Accra, Aug 5, GNA - President John Evans Atta Mills, on Thursday appealed to religious leaders to prevent immorality and ensure that their members lead upright lifestyles.

He called on pastors, priests and reverend ministers to march on as Christian soldiers, despite the challenges, to redeem the sinking image of the church in recent times.

The President, who was addressing the opening session of the six-day 69th Synod of Global Evangelical Church (GEC) on the theme: "That none should perish" based on 2 Peter 3:9.in Accra, stressed that the Christian leadership should live by example that would glorify "Our Father in Heaven".

The core mission of the Global Evangelical Church is to preaching the true gospel of Jesus Christ to the saved and unsaved and the total development of its members within and outside Ghana, a brochure of the Synod to the press said.

President Mills expressed regret about the lifestyles of some leaders of the Christian community in Ghana which did not give credit to the Christian faith.

He consequently called on the church not to lose its status as the conscience of the nation and pointed out that it was only when the will of God was chosen that the nation would continue to attract divine blessings.

The Church, President Mills said, should maintain its ethics and values and arrest the moral degeneration through internal and external evangelisation.

"We are living in times as a nation when we need to get closer to our Maker for his direction. We would be groping in the dark if we don't submit to God's guidance and direction," President Mills said.

President Mills indicated that there was hope for the church and the nation and called for further team-up to improve the lives of the people.

"It is not part of God's plan that we should perish, we'll live to proclaim the mercies of our Lord," the President said, to receptive congregation at the Assembly Hall of Pentecost University that reverberated with sounds of Hallelujah and Amen, as some waved white handkerchiefs.

President Mills stressed that the Better Ghana agenda should not be left to politicians alone and asked church leaders and the Christian community to support that the programme.

He said "It is always a pleasure to be in the midst of believers," President Mills said and recalled that his relationship predated to his assumption of office, an event, which he said, many of the congregants had contributed to.

"I pray that the bond would grow stronger and stronger," President Mills said, and called for more prayers for people in leadership position to do what was right in the sight of the Lord.

President Mills entreated the clergy as well as the laity to continue to pray for the nation, and to back their prayers with Godly actions adding "Let's be hearers and doers of the Word as well".

Right Reverend Dr Emmanuel Kormla Gbordzoe, Moderator of GEC, said the theme for the event was a declaration of an ecclesiastical year of the moral crusade in the Church, first directed at the church leadership and membership primarily, Christian community and the nation.

He announced that the church would embark on massive drive of evangelism at four levels: presence, proclamation, persuasion and power evangelism.

The Moderator commended Government for clamping down on armed robbers and said the church would continue to pray for God's guidance for Government to succeed in its endeavour to improve conditions of life of the people.

Rt-Rev. Gbordzoe condemned attempts by some individuals in Ghana to favour homosexuality and asked Government not to yield to any external and internal pressure to promote human rights that were foreign and inimical to the moral and spiritual health of the nation.

"Homosexuality is an abomination which invites the wrath of God, it must not be tolerated," Rt Rev. Gbordzoe said.

He congratulated the National Senior football Team, the Black Stars for their sterling performance at the just-ended FIFA World Cup Tournament in South Africa, and the National Under-20 soccer team for becoming the first African team to win gold early this year.

There were solidarity messages from the Church of Pentecost, Ghana Pentecostal Council and Ghana Apostolic Church.